it is up to the united states senate whether or not to confirm jack lew. the white house is selling this as a transition. that, by the way, is construction for the or parade here, the inaugural parade, if you heard the loud crash. the transition that you have now from really a rescue job that treasury secretary geithner was asked to do at the beginning of the administration now to one of budgeting. jack lew, the budget chief in the clinton administration, in the obama administration in the white house is basically saying that's why they chose him, the mastery of the federal budget. >> jack knows that every number on a page, every dollar we budget, every decision we make has to be an expression of who we wish to be as a nation. our values. the values that say everybody gets a fair shot at opportunity. and says that we expect all of us to pull fill our or individual obligations. >> reporter: republicans say that the lack of willingnesses to address entitlement spending and saying signals that the president -- this is senator mike lee -- will continue to purs